The Best BBQ Grilled Corn (foil or no foil?)

A test to find the best way to cook corn on the BBQ. Wrapped in foil or straight on the grill. This post includes grilling tips and clean up recommendations.

Last of the Summer Dine

It's time to have those last few BBQs before the weather changes and dining indoors becomes the norm again.

Make the most of your garden or outdoor space and invite some family and friends around for a grilled feast with lots of salads and side dishes or just take your evening meal outdoors and keep it simple.

Burgers, bangers, kebabs and vegetables all taste great when cooked on the grill and let's face it, it's great fun.

Grilling Corn

Yes, you can coat it in lots of marinade or spices, but I wanted to try it cooked on the barbecue in foil and directly on the grill to see which comes out best.

This could get messy, but only when you slather the grilled corn with butter (or dairy-free spread) and it drips down your chin as you bite into those juicy sweet kernels.

As you can see Cooper was the one who got into a mess eating this corn!

BBQs can be stress and mess free

Before we get to the corn grilling experiment, I would like to share some BBQ tips with you.

Plan ahead and follow a few simple hacks for stress-free, fun BBQ with less mess, which you'll love if you're one of the 84% of parents who think BBQs are messy or part of the 33% who are put off having a BBQ because of the mess.

10 CLEVER BBQ HACKS

1. Don't try and rush your BBQ. Give it time to heat. You want to wait until the coals are grey, almost white and glowing before you start to grill. This is a simple step but really important. Don't use anything chemical-based to speed things up as it will taint the flavour of your food.

2. Soak wooden skewers in water for 20-30 minutes before you use them on the BBQ to prevent burning. The ones with the flat end paddles are much easier to turn than the long thin ones.

3. Make sure you have a pair of long handled tongs for turning burgers and vegetables. That BBQ is going to get hot, hot hot! Best to keep any searing to the food and not your hands and arms.

4. Have a roll of kitchen paper on a holder next to you when grilling to wipe up any spills, wipe tongs that are covered in marinade, to cover dishes of raw and grilled food and to share around for cleaning up sticky fingers and messy mouths. We love Regina Blitz. It's a multi-purpose, good quality kitchen paper that's great value for money and strong, so doesn't tear or fall apart while you are cleaning up.

5. Pop some lemon halves on the grill face side down, then squeeze the lemon over loaded skewers and salad for a wonderful flavour burst.

6. Vegetables can be thrown on the grill whole, think of vegetables with skins like bell peppers, tomatoes and onion, it gives so much flavour and you don't need to prepare them before grilling.

7. If you're serving burgers in buns, cut the buns in half and quickly toast the inside on the grill. The soft outside and crisp inside of the bun gives a professional finish to your burgers.

8. Fill a muffin tray with lots of different flavoured ketchup, mayonnaise and mustard. Start with mild on the left going towards spicy on the right, adding a small spoon to each and let your guests help themselves.

9. If the days are getting cooler and you don't have outdoor heaters, fold a blanket over each chair back so your family and friends can wrap up if they start to feel chilly. It's one of those little touches everyone will remember.

10. To make cleaning the grill easy, clean your grill after your BBQ while it is still warm, using a wire brush, some scrunched up kitchen foil or even a halved onion using long tongs. When you have your next BBQ, just give the grill a quick wipe with hot soapy water.

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Regina Blitz

for easy clean up

Regina is one of the UK's most popular kitchen roll brands. It is an all-purpose kitchen and household towel that has triple-layer sheets with a super-strong embossed finish that's very strong and absorbent to make cleaning your house easy.

With a young boy and two dogs believe me it's really does help keep on top of all the crumbs, drips and spills. I also have it handy when I'm baking and cooking to keep on top of the mess.

Regina is available in all major supermarkets as well as smaller shops at £2.50 RRP. It's also available in Regina XXL and the extra-absorbent Regina Thirst Pockets.

Follow the conversation on social media with #TheStressofMess

GRILLING CORN

to foil or not to foil, that is the question

For this grilling experiment, I decided to keep it simple and let the sweet flavour of the corn shine through.

Instead of a marinade or spice rub, I just rubbed the corn cobs with a little olive oil and seasoned them with salt and pepper.

Once the BBQ was fired up and the coals with white and glowing, it was time to grill the corn.

I placed two cobs directly on the grill and then two wrapped in foil. I left them to cook for a few minutes before turning (this is when you really need those long tongs).

Naked Corn

The naked corn cooked quite quickly, but the foiled corn took a little longer.

When the naked corn starts to brown at the edges it is ready. It takes about 10-12 minutes, turning as it cooks. The little charred edges give a nutty flavour to some of the corn.

Once the corn was off the grill, I inserted corn holders to make it easier to eat, popped it on a plate, spread it with dairy-free spread, which immediately started to melt, gave it some extra seasoning of black pepper and rolled it in the melted *butter* until it was well coated, then armed with some kitchen paper to catch drips I dived in.

The smoky flavour from the BBQ and the little nutty kernels really gave a lot of flavour to the corn, although it was still sweet with extra flavour from the seasoning. It was absolutely delicious!

Corn in Foil

The corn wrapped in foil took about 20 minutes to cook with regular turning and was still a little crisper than regular corn on the cob which is boiled in a pan or steamed.

The foiled corn, didn't take on any of the smoky flavour from the BBQ and it didn't brown. You were left with fresh, sweet corn.

To be honest I don't see the point of cooking corn on the BBQ this way. It doesn't add to the flavour, it takes much longer to cook than it does on the cooker top and it takes up space on the grill that could be filled with other vegetables, more skewers or burgers.

Result

For a quick way to cook corn on the BBQ and a wonderful smoky flavour, throw the naked corn cobs (rubbed with just a little oil and some seasoning) straight onto the grill. If you prefer it naked, cook it in a pot, don't bother wrapping it in foil and taking up space on the BBQ.

Cooking corn for kids

Cooper said "Cook it like normal mum, I don't like the burnt corn and this one is a bit crunchy. I prefer the way you normally cook it". Well that's that then. Although I will be throwing naked corn on the grill for Graham and I next time we have a BBQ. We loved the corn all smoky and charred.

If you have children, you'll be able to judge if they're going to like corn smokey or if you should just cook their corn in a pot.

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Disclosure: This post was created in collaboration with Regina. I was not expected to write a positive review and any opinions expressed are my own.

20 comments

For me corn had to be grilled naked, so that done of the kernels brown and even blacken, and the whole cob takes on a bit of smokiness. Thanks for the more on Regina, I've seen the brand but not used it, good to hear it's a high quality product.

Yes you are so right Kavey, it does taste much better. The kitchen paper is super strong, I started buying it about a year ago and don't bother with the other types now, this is just stronger and you don't use as much.

Love all your tips and tricks! My husband is the griller in our family so I can't wait to share these with him. Also, I love that you did the corn naked! For YEARS I did it in foil and just started doing it naked this summer and it is so much better!

I'm quite amused that somehow Coop got it all down his neck. Of COURSE that's how one eats really tasty corn!! I'm so glad you all are still having a bit of fine weather. What a summer to remember. We ate lunch outside today and thought of you.

I love corn on the bbq especially the nutty, charred kernels so Im not surprised you decided without foil is best. V sensible having Regina to hand too. Looks like Cooper needed jt while he was tucking in!

the last time I had corn barbecued was from a street seller in Greece. I will have to try it next time I have a barbecue. I usually just barbecue burgers and bananas. Cooper is looking so grown up now. Jill

I love reading comments, so thank you for taking the time to leave one. Unfortunately, I'm bombarded with spam, so I've turned on comment moderation. I'll publish your comments as soon as I can and respond to them. Don't panic, they will disappear when you hit publish. Jac x